Liu Ying () (died 71) was a Chinese monarch. He was the son of

Emperor Guangwu of Han Emperor Guangwu of Han (; 15 January 5 BC – 29 March AD 57), born Liu Xiu (), courtesy name Wenshu (), was a Chinese monarch. He served as an emperor of the Han dynasty by restoring the dynasty in AD 25, thus founding the Eastern Han (Later ...

, and half-brother of

Emperor Ming of Han Emperor Ming of Han (15June 28 – 5September 75), born and also known as and as , was the second emperor of China's Eastern Han dynasty. He was the fourth son and second crown prince of Emperor Guangwu. It was during Emperor Ming's reign t ...

. After becoming Prince of Chu, he was a known supporter of many religions. In particular, his sponsorship of

Buddhism Buddhism ( , ), also known as Buddha Dharma and Dharmavinaya (), is an Indian religion or philosophical tradition based on teachings attributed to the Buddha. It originated in northern India as a -movement in the 5th century BCE, and ...

in 65 CE is the first documented case of Buddhist practices in

China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. It is the world's List of countries and dependencies by population, most populous country, with a Population of China, population exceeding 1.4 billion, slig ...

. Born to the Lady Xu (), a junior consort of Emperor Guangwu, Liu Ying was given the rank of

duke Duke is a male title either of a monarch ruling over a duchy, or of a member of royalty, or nobility. As rulers, dukes are ranked below emperors, kings, grand princes, grand dukes, and sovereign princes. As royalty or nobility, they are r ...

in 39 CE, and

prince A prince is a male ruler (ranked below a king, grand prince, and grand duke) or a male member of a monarch's or former monarch's family. ''Prince'' is also a title of nobility (often highest), often hereditary, in some European states. ...

(''wáng'') in 41 CE. The next year he received Chu as his hereditary fiefdom, with his capital at Pengcheng (modern

Xuzhou Xuzhou (徐州), also known as Pengcheng (彭城) in ancient times, is a major city in northwestern Jiangsu province, China. The city, with a recorded population of 9,083,790 at the 2020 census (3,135,660 of which lived in the built-up area ma ...

Jiangsu Jiangsu (; ; pinyin: Jiāngsū, alternatively romanized as Kiangsu or Chiangsu) is an eastern coastal province of the People's Republic of China. It is one of the leading provinces in finance, education, technology, and tourism, with it ...

). The young Liu Ying seems to have been close to his half-brother Liu Zhuang, the future Emperor Ming. He is also said to have travelled widely and gained an interest in Huang-Lao Daoism () and Buddhism (, literally "

Buddha Siddhartha Gautama, most commonly referred to as the Buddha, was a wandering ascetic and religious teacher who lived in South Asia during the 6th or 5th century BCE and founded Buddhism. According to Buddhist tradition, he was born in L ...

"). After Liu Ying became a prince, he actively supported both religions in the hope of finding a drug of

longevity The word " longevity" is sometimes used as a synonym for " life expectancy" in demography. However, the term ''longevity'' is sometimes meant to refer only to especially long-lived members of a population, whereas ''life expectancy'' is always ...

immortality Immortality is the concept of eternal life. Some modern species may possess biological immortality. Some scientists, futurists, and philosophers have theorized about the immortality of the human body, with some suggesting that human immorta ...

. Because of these activities, Liu Ying was suspected of treasonous intrigue and the subject of an imperial edict from Emperor Ming. The edict, which survives in the '' Book of the Later Han'' shows that at the time the Buddha was associated in the opinion of the Chinese imperial court with

Daoism Taoism (, ) or Daoism () refers to either a school of philosophical thought (道家; ''daojia'') or to a religion (道教; ''daojiao''), both of which share ideas and concepts of Chinese origin and emphasize living in harmony with the ''Tao'' ...

. He was treated like a god to whom sacrifices and

fasting Fasting is the abstention from eating and sometimes drinking. From a purely physiological context, "fasting" may refer to the metabolic status of a person who has not eaten overnight (see " Breakfast"), or to the metabolic state achieved after ...

took place. Buddhism was described as "humane" and generally accepted by the elite. Citing Liu Ying's support of Daoism and Buddhism,

Henri Maspero Henri Paul Gaston Maspero (15 December 188317 March 1945) was a French sinologist and professor who contributed to a variety of topics relating to East Asia. Maspero is best known for his pioneering studies of Daoism. He was imprisoned by the Naz ...

noted, "It is a very curious fact that, throughout the whole Han dynasty, Taoism and Buddhism were constantly confused and appeared as a single religion."Henri Maspero, 1981, ''Taoism and Chinese Religion'', tr. by Frank A. Kierman Jr.,

University of Massachusetts Press The University of Massachusetts Press is a university press that is part of the University of Massachusetts Amherst The University of Massachusetts Amherst (UMass Amherst, UMass) is a public research university in Amherst, Massachusetts a ...

, p. 405. Five years later, in 70, Liu Ying's activities were again denounced by high officials and he was accused of plotting against the throne, a crime punishable by death. Among his supposed crimes was the most heinous of those in Han law: usurping the prerogatives of the emperor, and great impropriety and immorality in his conduct toward the throne (). Nevertheless, Emperor Ming refused to execute Liu Ying, instead demoting him to the rank of a commoner and exiling him to Danyang in the lower

Yangtze The Yangtze or Yangzi ( or ; ) is the longest river in Asia, the third-longest in the world, and the longest in the world to flow entirely within one country. It rises at Jari Hill in the Tanggula Mountains (Tibetan Plateau) and flows ...

. Liu Ying committed suicide upon reaching his destination the next year. He was buried with the honours of a full marquess (). As part of the purges following Liu Ying's downfall, thousands of his supposed adherents were arrested and implicated each other under

torture Torture is the deliberate infliction of severe pain or suffering on a person for reasons such as punishment, extracting a confession, interrogational torture, interrogation for information, or intimidating third parties. definitions of tortur ...

. Nevertheless, the Buddhist community at Pengcheng survived. More than a century later, it was still thriving under the patronage of

Ze Rong Ze Rong () (died 195 C.E.) was a minor warlord and Buddhist leader who lived during the late Eastern Han dynasty of China. He was active in Xu Province and was nominally a subordinate of the provincial governor, Tao Qian. When the warlord Cao C ...

, a native of Danyang. A number of Liu Ying's followers may also have followed him to the lower Yangtze and established Buddhist communities there also.

References

Notes

Sources

Zürcher, Erik. 1972. ''The Buddhist Conquest of China: The Spread and Adaptation of Buddhism in Early Medieval China''. Reprint, with additions and corrections. 2 vols. Sinica Leidensia. Leiden: E.J. Brill. First edition, 1959. {{DEFAULTSORT:Liu, Ying Year of birth missing 71 deaths 1st-century Buddhists Converts to Buddhism Emperor Guangwu of Han Han dynasty Buddhists Han dynasty imperial princes

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